India, Oman discuss ways to enhance trade

New Delhi: India and Oman discussed ways to enhance trade and investments between the two countries on Wednesday. The issues were discussed during the seventh India-Oman Joint Commission meeting, which was held here under the leadership of the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Oman's Minister of Commerce and Industry.

"The two sides discussed bilateral economic and commercial matters of mutual interest and discussed ways to increase the bilateral trade and investment linkages between the two countries," an official statement said. After the meeting, Sitharaman said that huge scope exists for interaction and greater engagement with Oman.

”Today's meeting has only reinforced the possibilities which exist immensely. We hope to follow it up by a delegation which will be going to Oman in December,” she added."There are also negotiations with Gulf Cooperation Council. We hope to work a lot more intensely with Oman," she said.

Sunaidy said trade between the two countries is expanding and huge opportunities exist to boost the economic ties. "Our exports and imports with India are expanding. There is an increase of over 55 per cent between 2012 and 2013. We hope that this can be expanded forward," he said.

Both the Ministers witnessed the signing of MoU on Standards and Metrology between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Oman. The two ministers also welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Legal and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters. Oman is an important trading partner of India in the Gulf region with bilateral trade of over USD 5.70 billion in 2013-14.